This invention relates to radiation systems and, more particularly, to radiation systems employing a collector/beamformer to maximize the amount of radiation which can be gathered from a source and formed into a beam.
Prior to the present invention, modulated infrared radiation systems employed relatively simple collector/beamformers to gather radiation from, for example, in an infrared radiation system, an electrically heated cylindrical rod and shape it into a beam. Typical collector/beamformers were circular or elliptical in shape. Such configurations, however, do not collect substantially all of the radiation from the source, that is they have relatively poor collection efficiency. Some of the collected radiation is prevented from being transmitted in the beam as the radiation source itself blocks radiation from the collector/beamformer. Also the directivity of the beam formed by the collectors is less than optimum.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide improved optical collector/beamformers.
It is another object of this invention to provide optical collector/beamformers which are both efficient and provide desired beam shaping.